Jules garnier



(No Model.)

l J. GARNIER. PROCESS OF BXTRAGTING NICKEL PROM ITS OXIDES. No. 511,886.

Patented Jan. 2, 1894.`

1 I I x l l l x STATES? PATENT 'PJ'VULES GARNIER, OF PARIS, FRANCE.

PRocEssopF ExTRAcTiNG To all 'whom it ,may concern:

Be it known that I,`.IULES GARNIER, of the city of Paris, France, have invented an Improved Process for the Extraction of Nickel from its Oxides and Pigs in a Particular Apparatus, of which the following is a full, clear,

and exact description.

'Myinvention relates-to an improved pro- I cess for thelextraction of nickel from its oxides andpigs in a particular apparatus.

In'the metallurgical treatment of nickel according to most of the methods in use, a more or less impure oxide of nickel is obtained, from which it is necessary to extract the metal 1n as pure a condition as possible, that is to say, practically deprived of carbon, silicon, sulphur, arsenic, phosphorus, dre.

This invention consists of an improved method to obtain this result.

The apparatus employed in carrying out the process is illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification, in which- Figures 1 and 2 represent vertical sections thereof taken in planes at right angles to each other.

The apparatus consists of a furnace mounted on trunnions ab and having a basic lining c, of which the casing d is cooled by currents of cold water supplied through the trunnion c and pipes h to perforated pipes i from which it flows down the casing d and is collected in gutters k at bottom. Hot air is blown in through the trunnion b and pipe e to the chainber f whence it is projected through the tuyeres y situated at the side opposite to the pouring o lip. The blowing apparatus is so arranged that it can blow in air at the reduced pressure usual in cupolas, or at the higher pressure necessary in converters. In practice it is preferable to employ two separate blowing machines and to control the blast from the one or the other by means of valves.

Another feature is that for the purpose of cleaning the apparatus the bottom plate j is easily removable after first inverting the apparatus and discharging the lumps while stili hot, a fresh bottom prepared and heated being then applied and the operation recom menced, and so on.

The object in view is as follows: When nickel oxide is melted in a cupola furnace, the

NICKEL FROM lli'vvs oxipias. i

` srncnjic'xrronlforniingpartof LettersPate-nt No.511,ese,datea January 2,1894.. A i 1 l l--Appiimionieaiipriiis,139e. semina 470.147.

(No specimens.)

nickel is readily reduced but without being carburized, or rather the carbon which coinbines is almost entirely burned out in front of the tuyeres, and the result is that the metal adheres to the sides and quickly forms a lump which would not occur were it possible to incorporate carbon and silicon with it. VTo obviate-this objection I rst produce by the ordinary processes from a portion of the nickel oxide to be con. The apparatus before described having been brought to a White heat, I charge it with and limestone and other fluxes, so as to produce an extra basic and duid slagcontaining only from ten to twenty per cent. of silica. The metallic nickel which immediately forms disengages its oxygen which combines with the charges of fuel, but within the sphere of action of the blast from the tuyeres the nickel remains liquid only in consequence of the extremely high temperature, since it has lost its sulphur, a portion of its arsenic and phosphorus (if any) and has not assimilated carbon or silicon in suiiicient quantity to give it fluidity. It is at this point that the action of the extra carburized and siliconized nickel before referred to, 'intervenes to prevent the clogging of the melting chamber, care having been taken to run in this extra carburized nickel before charging it with nickel oxide, so that when the nickel reduced from the oxide reaches the basin of the furnace it there meets with the extra carburized nickel which c dissolves it and so prevents the formation of lumps. In running in the carburized nickel, the apparatus is tilted and care is taken to prot-ect the nickel as much as possible from the air by means of Wood charcoal thrown upon the iiuid metal. Moreover an extra basic slag is first run in, which the carburized nickel must traverse before it reaches the bottom. This slag not only protects the carburized nickel from the oxidizing action of the air but also carries o a considerable proportion of the sulphur it may contain. The carburet of nickel might be charged at the same time as the oxide, but in this case the necessary proportion of carbureted nickel is greater, as the oxide is reduced partly at the expense of the carburet. In any case the or by the oxygen of the oxide, Y

treated, a nickel very rich in carbon and silialternate layers of bricks of nickel oxide, fuel,

. rings, this extra 25 charging is discontinued as soon as the quantity of metalintrod'uced either inthe form of oxide or carburet issufiicient to till' the furnace basin to the height of the tuyeres, the charges being melted with a moderate pressure of the blast. Immediately the whole of the metal is collected at the bottom, the apparatus is tilted to discharge the whole of the slag and then returned toward the upright position until the. bath reaches the tuyeres when the blast under high pressure is turned on whereby the combustion of the carbon,sili con, arsenieand phosphorus, contained inthe metal is eifected with formation of fresh slag which is facilitated byadding a certain quantity of iime and fluxes. There still remains in the nickel in intimate admixture therewith a certain proportion of'dust from the walls and added lime. The dust o-fextra basic composition would be prejudicial ytof-the homogeneity of the metal yand"` diminish its strength vand toget rid of it the nickel is run on. tothesilicious hearth of a Siemens furnace in which, after repeated stir basic dust becomes scoriied with the silica from the furnace lining. -In order to obtain the metal in a practically pure condition there now only remains to add to the bath a deoxidizingagent in as pure a condition as possible,- such as ferro-manganese, ferrofal-uminium, &c;r

yIt will be understood thatthe apparatus herein described vmay be fixed andA provided with two blasts, the scoria and metal being tappedoft in the ordinary manner. j; It will also be evident that this improved method of treatment is applicable to the metallic oxides of cobalt and of iron (residues of the calcination of pyrites, hammer-scale, rich and but slightly siliciousores), to the oxides of chromium and titanium, (itc.

The process or method'of' treating oxides of nickel, cobalt, iron, chromium, titanium, the., which consists in eecting their reduction in a basic apparatus, in contact with extra basic slags and carburizing and silicifying the metal to prevent the formation of a lump by adding,r a carburet and silicide of said `inetalythen blowing the metal at high`A pressure for completing its renement, and finally running the 5o metal on to the silicious hearth of a Siemens furnace to eliminate the extra basic dust of v lime andscoriain mechanical admixture therewith.

The foregoing specification of yfmy im- 55 proved process for the extraction of vnickel from its oxides and pigs in a partieularappaf f;

ratus signed by methis 28th day of March, 1893.

' JULES GARNIER." Witnesses: v

DAVID T; S. FULLER, ALBERT MoREAUx. 

